


Inktober Fiction Challenge

by little_shinra



Category: Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID-
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Canonical Character Death, Gen, M/M, Multi, On Hiatus, Other, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-01-23 16:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12511132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_shinra/pseuds/little_shinra
Summary: So, personally, I've never been a major fan of prompts made for writers, especially ones for extended periods of days. I'm very fond of artist prompts that have been made in the event of Inktober and decided that hey, I'm gonna 'hijack' one of the lists and make small writing responses to them. (Mostly because I can't draw to save my life.) My only main rule was it could be about Lamento and Lamento characters only. The fanbase is rather tiny, so not a lot of fan content is made. I hope anyone who finds this enjoys the writing responses I've made. Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Since the kudos system is limited to the whole work, you are welcome to leave comments simply saying "kudos" to show your support. Enjoy the list below.The prompt list I'm using was originally created by tumblr user relseiyart.





	1. Table of Contents & Foreword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, personally, I've never been a major fan of prompts made for writers, especially ones for extended periods of days. I'm very fond of artist prompts that have been made in the event of Inktober and decided that hey, I'm gonna 'hijack' one of the lists and make small writing responses to them. (Mostly because I can't draw to save my life.) My only main rule was it could be about Lamento and Lamento characters only. The fanbase is rather tiny, so not a lot of fan content is made. I hope anyone who finds this enjoys the writing responses I've made. Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Since the kudos system is limited to the whole work, you are welcome to leave comments simply saying "kudos" to show your support. Enjoy the list below.
> 
> The prompt list I'm using was originally created by tumblr user relseiyart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of December 20th, not all responses have been completed. They will be listed in the chapters according to their assigned days and the list here will have an indicator of which ones have been most recently added.
> 
> APRIL 2018 UPDATE: This hasn't been forgotten about! Priorities just...keep changing.

Indicators:  
Underlined = In progress/finalizing  
**Bold** = **Most recently added**  
_Italics_ = _Hidden_

 

 

Day 1 - Maple Leaf (Leaks & Boyjo)

**Day 2 - Little Flowers (Boyjo)**

Day 3 - Seashell (Child!Asato, Kaltz, & Kagari)

Day 4 - Wind (Rai & Konoe)

_Day 5 - Strawberry_

_Day 6 - Tea/Coffee_

Day 7 - Planets (Ul & Kil)

_Day 8 - Water_

Day 9 - Sunflower (Tokino)

_Day 10 - Apples_

_Day 11 - Snowflakes_

_Day 12 - Feathers_

_Day 13 - Bubbles_

_Day 14 - Butterfly_

Day 15 - Succulents (Leaks)

Day 16 - Mushrooms (Firi)

_Day 17 - Flower Crown_

_Day 18 - Starfish_

_Day 19 - Spark_

Day 20 - Constellations (Mana, Kil, & Ul)

_Day 21 - Wave_

_Day 22 - Dandelions_

_Day 23 - Melody_

Day 24 - Moth (Froud)

Day 25 - Roots (New Father!Kaltz & Newborn!Asato)

Day 26 - Jellyfish (Monster!Asato & Konoe)

_Day 27 - Plum Blossom_

Day 28 - Gem stone (Razel & Konoe)

_Day 29 - Vines_

_Day 30 - Wisteria_

_Day 31 - Lantern_


	2. Day 1 - Maple Leaf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Leaks & Boyjo  
> Word Count: 200+  
> Type: ModDom!AU

Leaks grumbled to himself as he furiously raked leaves into piles along the stretch of his property, prepping them for their eventual bagging and disposal in the recycle. He had put off doing the job as long as made possible, till the disarrayed view from his window drove him mad and the air outside had finally turned nippy compared to the warm nights of summer.

“No matter how much you glare at them, you won’t set them on fire.” His friend Bojyo jested, getting his own pile into their designated bags with more ease than Leaks would care to admit.

“Every year, I have to do this.” Leaks muttered, watching another pile get halfway into a bag before spilling over. “Every year, it’s no easier.”

“If you hate it that much, you could take the tree down.” Bojyo said, despite knowing the answer.

“What good would it do, aside from eliminating one grievous job?”

Bojyo leaned on the rake, glancing up at the tree’s thinning branches.

“It is a beautiful maple. Reminds me of the redhead who’s been visiting you.” He glanced askance to Leaks with a smile. Leaks didn’t answer and kicked the leaves to submission in the black plastic.

 


	3. Day 2 - Little Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Boyjo & Konoe/Leaks (Referenced)  
> Word Count: 200+  
> Type: Canon
> 
> Note: Takes place following the end of Asato's good ending

“This is familiar. I remember this sight.”

Laying on the ground, Konoe slept calmly in an enveloping halo of small purple-blue flowers. Boyjo watched him, the folds of the past blanketing over the young cat. Replacing his grown hair with the beginnings of a braid, his missing arm filled with a body shrouded in mute, modest clothes. Cream ears with a deep darkness.

“You were still young then, just like your protégé. You looked so cute when I caught you sleeping in places like this.”

Boyjo knelt to his knees and touched Konoe's forehead.

“I wonder if you'll still hate it if I find you sleeping so openly.”

In those folds, the eyes opened to meet him and widened, body stiffening as embarrassment flared up the young cat's fur and Boyjo's hand was repelled from his head. Under the folds of that memory, the young cat under his palm slept, his chest rising and lowering in even, long intervals.

From Boyjo's touch, the shaman could feel a well of energy showing the signs of drying out. The amused smirk he usually wore fell.

“Did you find what you wanted, Leaks? Your protégé has. He learned from you and will pass with peace. Don't worry, you have been forgiven.”

Boyjo brushed a hair strand from the young cat’s eyes. “Sleep well, Konoe.”

He looked up. In the distance, a cat with black ears came into focus. A Kiran cat. His trademark smile returned, and he bent forward, planting a small kiss on Konoe’s forehead.

“Don’t worry. Neither of you will be alone.”


	4. Day 3 - Seashell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Child!Asato, Kaltz, & Kagari  
> Word Count: 350+  
> Type: ModDom!AU

“Do you have to discuss this here?”

Asato crouched down and pulled the little seashell out the sand. The edge of the tide crashed into him, knocking him flat on his butt. Behind him, Kaltz and Kagari still argued.

“I have every right to be concerned if it looks you're not keeping things in order for Asato. He deserves some semblance of a normal childhood!” 

“You say that and yet you only focus on every wrong thing!”

Asato fiddled the seashell when he glanced back at them. The sand kicked by the wave stuck to the back of his legs and dug between his toes. Asato made no sound and went back to working at opening the stubborn shell.

With much effort from his small fingers, the shell split into two at its hinges, leaving two perfect shell pieces. Asato rose to his feet, wandering closer to the water and washing the pieces. He turned again to his two guardians, a smile growing on his face.

“Dad! Kagari!” Asato ran over, keeping the shells between his small hands. The argument that had burned between them cut short and both guardians’ attention was on the young boy. He held his closed hands to them, dropping a shell piece in each receiving palm. “I found it before the wave washed it away!”

Despite it being habit to keep digging and jabbing at Kaltz when in the same vicinity, Kagari's hostility dissipated from her shoulders, hand still hovering where it was. She ran her thumb over the smooth surface of the shell.

“Thank you, Asato. They're beautiful. It must've taken a lot of searching to find these.”

Asato’s smile shone even brighter, pleased that his gift was appreciated. Kagari moved herself away from Kaltz, crouching down on the sand. The latter scooped his son into his arms, resting him on his lap. He gave him a big kiss on the cheek, earning a giggle from a squirming Asato.

“You having fun, Asato?”

“Yes!”

“That’s good, because you’re covered in sand,” Kaltz rubbed some of the dried sand loose. “How about we wash you up before you go searching again?”

“’Kay!”


	5. Day 7 - Planets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Ul & Kil  
> Word Count: 300+  
> Type: Canon
> 
> Spoilers ahead for these characters

“Ul,” Kil ran his thumb over his sibling’s cheek, gently nudging for his brother to rise. “Ul, get up.”

Ul was still warm in his arms as he slept, unresponsive to his brother’s urgency to open his eyes and show how far along his singing took him. To stay within orbit of him.

The two had stayed together, within reach, not wandering far before slinging back into each other. Others similar to them have appeared in their path, shifting into their orbit. Then some of them continued shifting past them and away. Some these two brothers devoured and shredded their existences away.

There was that one pair. One that always seemed to change the closer the brothers approached them. The one that shared Ul’s role remained a constant. The others changed.

Till they were all on the path of colliding.

Their struggle of gravity and pulling left them cleaned of their playground. They weren’t the stronger forces, thus they were repelled and sent outward to the void.

Kil cradled his brother and continued calling out for him as it got darker, the farther in they went.

“Kil, wake up now,” He heard his brother speak in his ear. Kil sat up, finding no one before him. Ul still laid on the ground next to him as he was when Kil fell asleep during his vigil over him. Speckles of light shone through the tree leaves above them.

“Ul,” Kil pressed the back of his hand against Ul’s cheek. The skin felt icy and far more drained than Ul had ever been after a battle. Kil laid his head over his bloodied chest, squeezing Ul’s shoulder.

His partner has become a husk, empty as it orbited with him in the void.

And a bright star came into sight.

“Do you want him back?”


	6. Day 9 - Sunflower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Tokino & Konoe  
> Word Count: 730  
> Type: AU

Ten year old Tokino couldn’t sleep. Since being put to bed by his parents, Tokino tossed and turned, attempting to sleep and being woken by some kind of force. His head began to hurt when he’d close his eyes. He pushed the snooze button on his digital clock, the green glowing face reading 2:03 am. Rolling to his stomach, his buried his face in his pillow, frustrated, before turning his head toward the window to stare at the darkness outside.

A strange feeling something was outside, he got out of bed and looked out his window, facing the edge of his family’s immense sunflower field. In the full moon light, the ground looked painted in yellow and black dots, stretching some miles before the main road would cut through it.

Through his window, a child near his age stared back at him. His tan blonde hair contrasted his black ears. Tokino pressed into the glass for a better look. The boy’s tail rested low by his legs, obscured by the shadows behind him. He wore a blue jacket with beige pants. Tokino recognized the clothes.

“Konoe?”

The boy turned and walked into the field.

“Konoe! Konoe, wait!”

Tokino pushed from the window and ran out the front door, leaping down the patio and following to the spot Konoe stood.

“Konoe! Konoe!” Tokino cupped his hands by his mouth and shouted his friend’s name into the field. No response. Standing at the edge of the tall field, Tokino looked up and down along the edges to the fences, finding himself alone.

“Was it really him?”

As he turned and headed back to the house, a melody played from inside the field. Tokino went back to the spot, ears strained to the sound.

“Konoe?”

He broke into a run. Tokino followed the distant song, breaking through columns of sunflowers, the snapping of stalks and leaves surrounding filling his tiny ears, the taunt plants colliding into his shoulders. He searched for any sign of blue and that tan blonde hair, calling again for Konoe to appear. He had been in and out of these fields before with his father, helping plants the seeds and weaving through the shrubs when they came to his height. He knew that he had to come upon the end where the road cut through. It was just a few feet away.

When he launched himself out, bracing to grab onto the fencing to stop himself, Tokino came upon a clearing of flattened sunflower stalks. A crop circle that stretched for a good mile from where he stood.

“This can’t be right,” Tokino stood to his tiptoes, looking for where the field ended. The yellow flowers obscured his view, even when he jumped. He stopped and listened to the silence. The melody was gone. “It’s so quiet. Where did the song come from?”

He turned around. Standing in the center of the circle was Konoe. Tokino smiled and ran over, tackling Konoe with a firm hug.

“Oh, I missed you. Where did you go? You’ve been missing for days.” Konoe said nothing. Tokino pulled away, holding the boy by the shoulders. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why won’t you talk?”

Tokino touched his ears. “What happened to your fur? It’s all black.”

Konoe’s eyes looked toward something behind him, something taller than them. A black clawed hand took Tokino by the chin from behind. The boy yelped, Konoe hugging his torso tightly to keep him in place.

“Don’t move,” the figure spoke.

“K-Konoe,” Tokino gasped, struggled to loosen the small boy’s surprising grip to no avail. “What are you doing? Run! Konoe!”

The hand on his chin tightened around his neck, cutting the air from his lungs. Tokino screamed, gasping as he clawed at the hand and his friend’s arm for release.

“Konoe!”

Another clawed hand came to view, petting Konoe’s head to praise him. The strength of Tokino’s struggle lessened, replacing with a petrifying fear of what he has committed. Konoe was unresponsive to the situation and now they were trapped by this mysterious figure. A choked sob spilled from his raw throat and tears began forming.

“Konoe?” Tokino hugged his arms around his lost friend, protectively cradling him as the hand moved back to his chin. Tokino looked up to the figure with wide, wet eyes. The shrouded figure smiled down to him.

“Hello, Tokino. How are you today?”


	7. Day 16 - Mushroom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Firi  
> Word Count: 200+  
> Type: Canon

On one of his walks, Firi stood on the top of a derelict wall. Along the base, hidden and wound by tall grass, were mushrooms. Firi wandered along the wall, following the mushrooms that gave peculiarity in their colors. Different from the natural tones, but not the signs of the Void. The eroded wall ended and the mushrooms still advanced on, leading into a unused path.

At the end, he came upon the colors of the Void and the heaviness of the presence of the Sickness. A tiny town was just beyond the break of trees. Firi turned on his heel and went the other way. When he came to the end or beginning of the trail, a small, rundown hut stood in the middle of close knit trees. It was vacant, eaten and taken over again by the forest itself. Dark scorch marks branded the stone walling. Firi peeked inside a window. A few items lined the shelves, broken here and there. The cold blue shade inside made everything inside look frozen.

Finding his curiosity satisfied, Firi dropped from the window and inspected the hut, finding the helpful mushroom path stopping at the hut and its door. He stared at the spot for moments longer, then he left the forlorn house and returned to his master’s residence.


	8. Day 20 - Constellations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Mana, Kil, & Ul  
> Word Count: 760+  
> Type: ModDom!AU

She had seen them before.

They were strange boys, mimicking and finishing each other’s words when they’d speak. Creeping the passersby in the park she’d cut through everyday as a result. She was not spared their confrontations either, having to walk away in an almost huff that they managed a rile out of her through merely cutesy poking and prodding.

Under the building’s side light, the two were huddled together in the small alley between a couple stores, the redhead cradling the other in his arms. The latter looked like he was ill, skin pallor next to his sibling’s and made more so by their worn down, dark hoodies.

As far as she knew, they didn’t stay anywhere. They were creatures of that park. To see them here, anywhere else, didn’t fit. Like a couple pieces of a themed chess set thrown into another. A tiny feeling inside her pulled her to them.

Not her problem. She continued her walk under the night, stopping at the corner for the crossing light. When it changed, she didn't move with the crowd. She looked over her shoulder, back to the street in their direction.

She’d hesitated, saying to herself it isn't her problem. She has her own bag to deal with…

_... Damn it._

She turned back, away from the crossing and to the small path between the buildings where they sat. She stopped a couple feet from them, hands in her coat pockets and eyes staring down at the two.

“Hey,” She said.

The redhead looked up at her, already giving her a stink eyed look. “If you want us to move, we’re not staying long.”

“Not why I came over. I don’t really care what you do.”

“Then you must be talking to the wrong people.”

“Hnn, I don’t think you two are. I’m pretty good at picking up on that kind of thing,” Mana brushed the length of her skirt under her legs as she knelt to Kil’s eye level. “Are you two alright?”

“Is that why you came over?”

“Have you been to a hospital yet?” She pointed at Ul. “He doesn't look good.”

“No insurance. Can't afford it.”

“Can’t pay it,” Ul weakly added. The boy rubbed his eyes and blinked the sleep away. He looked to his brother. “Who’s the lady?”

“Who indeed,” Kil passed a sharp edge in his sentence toward her direction. She brushed it off.

“I know someone who works at a small clinic. She can at least give you boys a look. And I’ll pay for any tests,” Silence.

Then she added, “The once-over doesn’t cost anything.”

“You said you don’t care what we do. So why do you bother?”

“We’re minding ourselves.”

Mana gave them a smug smile. “Can’t a person just be generous simply to be generous?”

“You’re a weird one,” Ul said.

“Very weird,” Kil echoed.

“You wouldn’t go otherwise, judging by your appearance.” She playfully tugged one of the siblings’ hoodie. “Come on, I’ll lead you there.”

The two looked at each other for a few long moments, then Kil pulled his brother closer and whispered something insistent in his ear. Ul looked like he’d been defeated by his words.

“Fine, lady. We’ll go with you.”

“We will go.”

As they all rose to their feet, Kil balanced his brother. Upon fully standing, Ul’s eyes clouded and he dipped forward into his brother. Mana lurched to catch him and Kil held her off.

“Just wait!” He said, impatiently. “He's slow to get up.”

Mana stepped back, watching Ul get a little color back to his face as he leaned on Kil’s shoulder.

Finally, Ul added with a vacant smile, “Takes a while to stand.”

Mana hovered a step ahead of them, phone in her hand as she worked at texts and her head looking up to check landmarks. Ul rubbed at his arms and looked up at the sky.

“Can’t see the stars here,” He mumbled.

Mana followed his gaze. “It’s light pollution. Go farther outside the area and you’ll be better to see them.”

“That’d be nice to walk there, huh, Kil?”

Kil squeezed his brother’s wrist. “Yeah, maybe when it’s easier for you.”

Mana added. “There’s a twin constellation, just like you. Gemini. It’s the season to see them.”

“Really?” Ul crooned. Mana immediately clamped her mouth shut, knowing full well what that tone led to, and gave a slight haste to her step. “Kil, what do you think the lady should be?”

“The Lady in the Chair.”

“That’s fitting.”

“Fitting indeed.”

Mana wondered again why she even bothered to be worried.


	9. Day 24 - Moth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Froud  
> Word Count: 180+  
> Type: Canon
> 
> Minor spoilers for Rai's route

In the blurry darkness through his sewn eyelids, Froud heard large insect wings flying by his branch on a large, aged tree.

Froud held his hand out, like a hooked branch waiting for the baited. The moth continued fluttering around, deciding on what to do before touching ground on his fingers. He carefully lifted it up, bringing it to level with his stitched eyes.

“Pretty little thing.”

Froud bobbed his hand up and down, giving the unmoving moth a bounce to its appearance. Its fuzzy body gave transition to large, very vibrant patterns mimicking eyes. If it was affected by the Void, it did not damage Froud’s hand.

“You’re like me. A shifter.”

He crushed it in his hand, breaking the wings, dropping its twitching body on the forest floor. Froud rolled his body till his back rested on the branch and fragmented daylight played on his slim black and green frame.

“This world won’t survive much longer.”

He noted the crawling motion of the Void at the roots of the tree he lounged on. His mouth stretched wide, revealing his teeth.

“Not much longer indeed, mister sorcerer.”


	10. Day 25 - Roots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: New Father!Kaltz & Newborn!Asato  
> Word Count: 470+  
> Type: ModDom!AU

The sound of the flatline still echoed in Kaltz’s head as he rested it on his hands and knees in the hall. Staff continued with their work, visitors and patients had their own destinations and lives to handle. For Kaltz, he was frozen where he was as the world moved on as normal. Why would it stop, really? It was just one life.

The present staff had visited him, saying that when he felt ready, he could see his son. Kaltz stayed put in his seat, trying to process the result of so many hours in the delivery room. His mind blanked in response, just leaving a bleeding heart and a simple irreversible fact stamped over everything. Kagari responded with this in anger, chewing him out for just standing there as they were escorted out of the delivery room. He didn’t give a single word in defense as he watched her. She had already left, either out of the hospital or just another ward, he didn’t inquire.

After a while of getting some semblance of tactile reality back in his hands, he asked to be taken to the nursery. Then to hold the baby.

The nurse showed and adjusted his arms to properly support the head. Peeking from the baby’s knit beanie were fragile black ears, reflecting his family’s. The skin was a milky brown, trait from Kaya’s family and small tribe. The baby’s eyes were closed shut, normal for a newborn. He gently nudged the child’s cheek, getting a small yawn in return before burrowing in the warmth of the blanket the hospital provided. Kaltz simply gazed in awe at this tiny boy. The world outside of him became fuzzy again, like earlier in the chair.

It was amazing, he mused, that this baby was born from the roots of long, old trees. Their two distinct families that grew farther back than Kaltz could even attempt to recall the history. From the wide ancient trunks Kaltz imagined, branches were spread in all directions. Deeply rooted in the earth, the son was being the newest budding flower branch between two fully grown, entangled wood. His and Kaya’s.

But her branch broke off and died.

Kaltz choked, tears blurring his vision of his son. The nurse came back, alerted by his sobbing, and asked if he’d like them to put the baby back to his bed. Kaltz declined as much as he could manage with a calm voice. He just needed a minute to gather himself. He had one thing he truly wanted to do before he had to hand the warmth in his arms away, however temporarily.

He needed a name.

The baby started squirming, his nap interrupted by the ruckus. Kaltz kissed his son’s head and whispered, “I’m sorry that I woke you,” he kissed his small, curled hand, “This world, and I, welcome you, Asato.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up doing this in one sitting, start to finish, and I'm officially a glass box of emotions! Man, these can clean you out.


	11. Day 28 - Gem stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Konoe & Razel  
> Word Count: 860+  
> Type: a Modern AU

_He was just a wanderer._

_He had wandered for a long time, hiking through miles and miles of thick forest._

 

When he went into the nature park for his hikes, it was normal for Konoe to become a wanderer, allowing himself to become engrossed in the quiet and separation from his daily world. Behind the backs of other hikers, Konoe followed his route through muscle memory, barely registering the things, the people, the scenery around him. He retreated into an inner place, setting his legs to autopilot. It would be the same as always. Even when the ground changed from time beaten to untouched under his feet.

He found himself walking and walking and walking before realizing, he hasn't been back to the path in a long time. The forest is huge, trees clumped close together, covered with moss, rotted debris, discarded pieces of wood or leaves. Canopy of branches reached high in the sky, shading the ground below. The chill of shadows sent shivers through him. Konoe hugged himself and inspected the pieces of sky he could see through the holes of the forest's shield. It had to be past noon, he had started his trek early that morning, noting the signs warning visitors of staying on the path. His compass couldn't settle on what was north when he realized he was lost.

Another look between the canopies, he continued to what he assumed was west, toward the lowering sun, and found a clear lake at a break of trees. He walked up to the lake's edge, marveling the near transparent water. He shed his bag and dropped it on a log, sitting himself on the cool dirt. For something that normally would worry the living hell out of him (he was always hypervigilant when he became remotely lost), he felt calm, knowing that this was a good place to stop. It felt right to be here.

The beams of light the filtered through the breaks of trees hit parts of the forest lake, making the life under the water more vibrant and revealing. Konoe simply watched and allowed himself to withdraw inwardly, fixing on that very life.

The sun had to be moving. Time passed before some beams shined on something in the dirt, just touched by water, drawing his eyes away from the water itself. In the mud, a deep red stone took Konoe's attention by the reigns. He dug away the dirt, getting it buried into his fingernails, to free up the layers time must’ve built over it. Deep enough down, Konoe wiggled the stone loose, scooping it into his hands. Upon inspection, held to the light, a shape formed in the geometric pieces. A shape that reminded Konoe of a baby in a mother’s womb through an ultrasound.

It was warm in his fingers, burning like a stone left in the campfire. He sat back where he was, eyes absorbed in the deep red beauty. In the back of his mind, a reminder that he should find home reached out.

The red lured him back and he passed that thought aside. It was late, and lethargy drained him. He let out a yawn.

_I can rest here. I'll find the path in the morning._

Konoe laid on his back, rotating the stone around in his hands. Outside his little reverie, it was getting darker, the evening chill rolling in as its own mist. Cold seeped into his back, pulling him away despite the seeming effort of the gem. Scanning the immediate area, Konoe spotted a hollow in an old tree, large enough to curl up in. Not the most comfortable, but a little better than the leeching cold coming from the bare ground.

Konoe got up and climbed into the wood hollow, curling himself in till he was leaning into the walls. The stone still held in his hands as he shifted his coat.

_It’s just a few hours. Thank god it wasn’t fully winter yet. No tree wells to worry about._

Konoe’s eyelids felt heavy.

_Could be worse._

He slumped to the side, heat from the stone becoming stronger.

_Could be…_

_..._

_.._

_._

Konoe dreamed that he was embraced by someone, engulfed in warmth. He didn’t know who was this stranger and wanted to push away, just enough to see their face. But he never managed the strength and he would simply let himself melt right back in.

As the dream moved further, a peace with the warmth enveloped him and Konoe didn’t mind this. It’d been a while since something this nice was in his life. Reminded him of his deceased parents, sandwiching him together in their arms, shielding him from the world for just a little longer.

A lightheaded peace. Konoe allowed himself to smile.

\---

“Thank you for finding me. I am sorry it came to this.”

Over the night, Razel reached past his tomb and held to the young man, granting him warmth for the cold. Slowly he took the man’s warmth away, using it to pull himself free. Konoe’s head rested on his lap, peaceful as he looked when he was dreaming. In his hands, curled close to his chest, were the destroyed remains of the stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was...kinda interesting to watch form. Despite being very far into the list, this was the first prompt that I actually felt my creative wings stretch to cover new ground on AUs and the like for the others. The whole setting was also influenced by an audio reading of a series of posts written by a search and rescue worker for a large forest park. At least I didn't write about the stairs that appear there.


End file.
